Valentine’s Day is often viewed as the day of love.  Couples like to get engaged on Valentine’s Day.  Some even choose this day to be married.  As we noted last week, billions of dollars will be spent to express love in one way or another.  But what is love?  What are we trying to convey when we say, “I love you”?

Our term love carries a lot of meanings – running all the way from how we feel about a really exciting run at Copper Mountain, to affection for a pet, to feelings of infatuation between pre-teen kids, to what people experience as they commit to each other for life.

I like the term “commitment” as a descriptor for love.  It says, “I care about you so much that I am willing to commit myself to you – to meet your needs, to make you happy, to fulfill you in ways no one else can or will do.”  Love is also affection; it is the communion of two people as they express their feelings for one another, but the word commitment says, “I’m in this with you for the long haul.  I care that much.”